Last year, the Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics had the second- and third-worst records in the West respectively. This year, according to our projections, the Suns will likely finish with the best record in the West and the Sonics will finish with the third-best record in the conference.

And how about the lowly Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies? Both teams were left for dead in December, but two new veteran coaches have turned these two disappointments into the teams no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs.